Chapter THIRTEEN
–Kaia–
FROM THE MOMENT I was dumped in Tréan’s den, my senses had been going haywire.
And I mean dumped because Bain had to toss me over his shoulder and plunk me down on Tréan’s bed when I got in a bitch of a snit being tucked underground like this.
“Stay,”
Bain had ordered me like a damn dog, narrowing his eyes in warning when I’d eyed the door, ready to scramble for it.
Callum was still in wolf form and blocking it, but I didn’t care.
I would find a way around both bastards.
My gag and bindings had been removed, so I could get anywhere I needed fast.
“Tréan will be here soon enough.”
Bain had given me an amused look as I kept eyeing the door.
“And you will be waiting here for him like a good little pup.”
“You did not just say that,”
I snapped, ready to have at him, only for both brothers to vanish in the blink of an eye and the door to slam shut.
“Hell!”
I’d raced over, only to find it locked.
Even worse? There was no way to pick it.
Roaring in fury, I pounded on the door but knew nobody would hear me.
This place was too isolated, tucked away in an underground tunnel that had led us further and further away from the castle.
“Unreal,”
I finally muttered, eyeing the room with frustration.
Built of tree roots and rocks, it was relatively cool and simply designed with basic wooden furniture.
Uncomplicated, and it suited me.
A fire crackled on a roughly strewn stone hearth, and a mixture of vegetables and meats had been left on a small table.
As much as I hated being imprisoned here, I liked the smell of the room.
A lot.
Not just the muskiness of rock and roots but Tréan’s smell.
It was everywhere. All around me, soaking into my flesh in a way that made me inhale deeply, needing even more. Every last bit.
Ignoring the food, I returned to the massive four-poster bed that seemed built into the root system and fingered the plush fur I’d been so recently tossed onto.
“How many women did you have on this bed?”
I whispered, trying to ignore another sharp rush of jealousy.
Yet some small, wicked part of me wondered.
“And how did you make them feel?”
I could only imagine.
Long for it.
Because as angry and confused by him as I was, I still wanted to experience what they had.
Wanted to feel his skin against mine. Spread my thighs and welcome him into my body.
Welcome him even though he was very likely my enemy.
“No.”
I shook my head and backed away from the bed.
“I’m better than this.
Stronger.
Because you clearly can’t be trusted any more than any other guy.”
I kept shaking my head, fighting my hunger in more ways than one.
It was hard to remember the last time I’d eaten or had sex, so I was vulnerable. Edgy.
At least until I caught another scent I hadn’t picked up on until now.
Or had I? Following it, I drifted toward the huge pile of furs on the floor in the corner closest to the fire, crouched, and fingered them.
Almost instantly, my confusion and anger fled, and the first sense of peace I’d ever felt poured over me like warm sunshine on the highway when it was just me and my bike.
I released a long, low sigh of relief I had no idea I’d been holding, brought the fur to my nose, and inhaled deeply.
“Tréan,”
I whispered, catching a side of him I hadn’t been able to in the forest when confronting his wolf.
The real him.
All of him.
And I needed more of it like I needed air to keep breathing.
As if something inside me understood that, I relaxed to the point I realized how tired I had become.
So exhausted, I crawled onto the furs, curled up into his scent, and meant to keep trying to figure out a way out of there, only to drift off.
Or so I assumed because when I snapped awake, there he was.
Not in human form but as his wolf, curled up beside me, sound asleep.
And that was no small thing.
Literally.
He was massive and intimidating.
Or so he should have been, would have been for any other newly made modern-day woman.
Yet I wasn’t terrified at all.
Instead, I saw more clearly his vulnerabilities as his beast slumbered.
Felt the sanctity he took in this pile of furs. The fears and worries he had lived with constantly when it came to his people. His pack.
I understood that kind of fear and worry because I'd lived with it daily for longer than I could remember, so I felt his inner angst as if it were my own.
His trials and tribulations.
So deeply, in fact, I nearly reached out and touched his gorgeous wolf but stopped when I sensed he might wake soon.
Now, here I sat after scrambling away, leaning my cheek into his human hand as he showed me his past with Blaithin.
Helped me understand her role in his life and why she had been exiled.
Although irritating jealousy still bubbled beneath the surface, it was soothed by what they had lacked.
The connection he never found with her. I knew that was awful of me. I should have wanted happiness for him, but my inner beast didn’t want it to be with anyone but me. It was a possessive, strange feeling, but there was no denying it.
Tréan was mine.
I almost said so and came clean about everything I felt, but a knock at the door stopped me.
Unfortunately, it was Bain, the bastard, and I let him know it with an angry glare and internal words meant just for him.
“Lock me up again, and I’ll cut your throat.”
He had the nerve to chuckle and wink at me before looking at Tréan.
“All await you and your mate in the Great Den, alpha.”
Tréan nodded and looked my way.
“Now you will greet our pack as you should have been able to before, my mate and equal.
Again, you have my apologies for how it had to be earlier.”
“Me too,”
I muttered, holding out my hand.
“Blades, please.”
I thought he would argue, but he surprised me and handed them over, including the Viking blade, which I couldn’t help but notice had again returned to the size of a dagger.
“Come.”
He held out his hand.
“Walk with me.”
“Holding your hand?”
I rolled my eyes.
“No way.
We might be in our Fated Mate Cycle, or whatever, but like I said before, I stand on my own two feet holding no man’s hand.”
I shot Bain another dirty look.
“Now my hands aren’t bound behind my back, that is.”
“You might be surprised how much you like that under the right circumstances,”
Bain mused, only to go quiet and bow his head in submission when Tréan released a low growl of warning.
“Watch how you speak to my mate, brother,”
Tréan said softly, dangerously, his voice more beast than man as he gestured I follow him.
“Come, Kaia.
Your new pack awaits you.”
I sneered at Bain in passing, only for him to wink again.
Then things got strange.
Or should I say unexpected, as Tréan led me down a torchlit tunnel into a monstrous cave that made me stop short.
Though I’d been determined to enter with my head held high, totally badass with a blade in hand if need be, I’m pretty sure I looked the opposite.
My jaw dropped at the size of the underground cave that definitely felt like a massive wolf den.
Huge firepits spit flames at the tall ceiling on either end of the jagged, oval-shaped monstrosity, flickering bits of hot red, warm orange, and energetic yellow over the rock.
Glittering wolf eyes stared back from numerous shadowed alcoves in the wall.
Light played off the stone and craggy corners, accentuating the celebrating crowd within, whether they be in beast form or human. Everything felt vibrant yet sensually dark, too. Savagely primal as drums beat and some sort of flute played, creating a medieval but tribal sound.
Everything was alive in a way I’d never seen or felt before.
“Because you are starting to see through your wolf’s eyes more clearly,”
Tréan murmured, resting his hand against my lower back.
He stood so close that focusing on what had so stunned me moments before became hard.
He hadn’t been kidding about this being a different experience than my arrival in the courtyard.
This time, when people lowered to a knee and bowed their heads, it almost seemed like it was to me.
“Because it is,”
Tréan said softly.
“They welcome your arrival and accept you as their alpha’s mate.
‘Tis a great honor.”
“Why would they do that?”
I said just as softly.
Holy pressure.
“I haven’t fully mated with you yet, Tréan, and I sure as heck haven’t committed to you.”
“Mayhap not your human half quite yet,”
he replied, “but your wolf has, and they sense it.”
I bit back a frown because I didn’t want to be rude to so many people who meant me no harm.
“Rise, my pack,”
Tréan urged.
“Let us celebrate so you might meet my fated mate.”
He was just rolling this right along, wasn’t he? Taking the choice out of my hands.
Yet, for the life of me, I couldn’t get angry at him anymore.
Not really.
Not the way I would have even a day ago. Something inside, no doubt my inner wolf, had warmed to him considerably. Hell, who was I kidding?
It had done far more than warm.
“Come, Kaia.”
Despite sensing he wanted to take my hand again, he didn’t.
“Let us eat and drink so you can meet everyone.”
I became distinctly aware of my modern-day clothing as we made our way into the crowd, but people didn’t seem to mind.
“They have long been aware that time travelers exist,”
Tréan said into my mind, clearly following my thoughts in a way I wasn’t so sure I liked.
Or, yet again, so I told myself.
“My mother is a time traveler like you,”
he went on.
“And they know I have traveled to different eras, so ‘tis accepted among our pack.
Not to say they still aren’t curious about you.”
Without a doubt, they were based on the way they regarded me.
While they didn’t outright stare, I felt eyes on me everywhere I went.
Heard the ever-so-discreet sniffs as they caught my scent.
And I did the same, inhaling every so often, picking up their scents in return. All were unique, showing me things about each of them I wasn’t sure were my business. That seemed too personal.
“Yet they are your business, mate.”
Tréan handed me a cup, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was bourbon yet again.
“And they will only show you what they’re ready to show you.
Let you in at their own pace until there are no more secrets.
Until you know them as well as you know yourself. At least those down here tonight. The members of our pack who can be trusted.”
“What about the others?”
I noticed the two slimeballs from earlier weren’t around.
“Aren’t they aware you're having a celebration down here?”
“No,”
he replied.
“This place is mine and the dens within are protected by my magic, so all is silent to their wolf ears.”
“Aren’t they going to notice so many people missing?”
“What you saw in the courtyard earlier was a rarity,”
he explained.
“Typically, to appear normal, we frequent other castles to sell our wares, but our castle is more for show than anything, with only a few walking its halls at any one time.
Most find their way to their dens either here or spread through the woodland betwixt mine and my brothers’ castles.”
They had castles, as well? I was about to ask about that because I’d been under the impression Tréan ruled all, but too many people wanted to greet us, so I focused on them the best I could.
Once again, Tréan impressed me with how he interacted with those he called his own.
How his infectious smile made him that much more gorgeous.
Not the time to be checking him out but I couldn’t help it. My gaze kept drifting back to him every chance I got. More than that, I wanted to remain near him. Not because I was anxious about meeting so many people that were half wolf, but because I was so drawn to him.
Being around him comforted me in a way I couldn’t explain.
Not to mention, he aroused me, so it was only natural to want to stick close to the guy I was so attracted to.
Yet deep down, I understood it was also my inner beast being not just overprotective but wary of other females.
Annoying because I’d never let other women bother me.
If they wanted the guy I was with and he was stupid enough to cheat on me, so be it. Onward and upward. There were plenty of fish in the sea for us all.
Wolven males and females, however, weren’t quite fish.
Rather, the females were more like me than I anticipated but with a softer edge.
They weren’t afraid to look me in the eyes, yet they offered a smile where I might not.
Especially the particularly attractive ones who eyed Tréan with a bit too much familiarity.
“Your unease with the opposite sex will fade once we rut,”
Tréan assured.
“Once I am covered in your scent and you have marked your territory.”
I nearly choked on the sip I’d just taken.
“I’m sorry, did you just say rut?”
He looked at me quizzically before he seemed to understand that didn’t work for me, so he tried again.
“Laid together?”
“Better,”
I acknowledged.
“Still a lot of assumption, though.”
“We both know that isn’t true.”
He gave me a knowing look that turned me on because I was a sucker for a confident man who knew his worth.
“We will lay together many times, and you will always want more, beginning this eve, I suspect.”
Heat flared beneath my skin at the promise in his wolven gaze when it flared golden.
Flared with a silent vow that he would make it very good for me.
So good, I’d never want to leave his bed.
I was about to respond with something equally confident, like count on it being the other way around, but the crowd suddenly parted so someone could approach.
Resting my hand on the hilt of the blade tucked at my waist, I eyed the tall, muscular, broad-shouldered, bearded man with thick mahogany brown hair flecked with light brown and wisps of silver.
He was too young for the silver, but it worked with his starkly handsome features, pale amber eyes, and brooding, almost wise vibe.
Dressed similarly to Tréan, only in dark brown instead of black, his gaze flared a familiar fiery golden before he dropped to a knee in front of Tréan and me and lowered his head in submission.
“I am Callum, lesser king of the Wolves of Ossary, and I offer my deepest apologies for not greeting your mate properly, alpha,”
he rumbled, his voice deep, troubled, and genuine.
“Please forgive me, King Tréan and Kaia, for you are most welcome, alpha's mate.”
“I do,”
I replied softly, instinctively, because my heart went out to him in an unexplainable way.
There was deep grief inside him that spoke to me.
Anger, rage, and defiance, I understood.
So I spoke a little louder so everybody heard. “I forgive you, Callum.”
“As do I,”
Tréan said without hesitation.
“Rise, brother, and feast with us.”
Callum stood and nodded once before we sat at one of several roughly strewn trestle tables placed throughout the cave.
Ours was at the center.
“I’m surprised by this,”
I commented to Tréan when he sat beside me.
“I always thought the king, or alpha in your case, would sit on a dais at the head of the room, signifying your rank.”
“Some do,”
he conceded as plates of traitorously delicious-smelling meats were set on the table, along with various vegetables, breads, freshly churned butter, and cheese.
“I prefer to be at ground level at the heart of my pack.
Equal with them to the best of my ability.”
“’Tis a fine trait,”
Bain praised.
He and Callum sat across from us.
“One much appreciated and emulated by those of us you entrusted with extensions of your own great kingdom.”
“So you’re all part of the same pack.”
I glanced between Bain and Callum.
“But have your own sub-packs or kingdoms and answer to the big guy? Kind of like different chapters of the same motorcycle gang?”
When Callum and Bain eyed me with confusion, Tréan nodded and loaded up a plate of both vegetables and meats for me despite my vegetarian status.
“Yes, very similar to that level of loyalty but even deeper because we are blood brothers and wolves.”
“What does blood brothers mean exactly?”
I wondered.
“Something tells me you’re not talking DNA.”
“I’m not.”
He explained to the other two DNA was a scientific method of discovering who you’re blood-related to in the future.
“Where most of my pack was formed when I saved them from certain death, Callum and Bain were unique in that they tried to save me before I ultimately saved them.
They became my blood brothers because of their courage and the deep bond we formed, sharing similar natures.
Members of my pack who rose above the rest for their strength, leadership abilities, and unquestionable devotion to our pack. For the men and wolves, they became.”
“As did our blood sister,”
Callum warned with a heavy sigh when the crowd stirred.
“And it seems she was not about to miss this night despite me being here.”
I soon learned as a beautiful woman with cedar-tinted sable hair swaggered up to the table with three sizable wolves in tow, that things weren’t as peaceful within Tréan’s inner ranks as he’d let on.
Not at all.